Samenvatting

The invasion of alien species threatens ecosystem functioning and is the second greatest cause for biodiversity loss around the world. Presently the Arctic regions are the least invaded realms of the world. However not much is known on the current- and future impact of alien species on the Arctic Ocean. An analysis of the already available literature on the subject of alien species in the Arctic Ocean could prove to be cost efficient. A confirmation of the usefulness of the available data means that there would be less need for field research when a literature research proves to be sufficient. Hence the European Commission initiated the Sea Basin Checkpoint (SBC) program to verify the feasibility of the available literature.
In order to gain a more in depth understanding of bottlenecks caused by alien species in the Arctic Ocean, and at the same time analyse the available data for its usefulness the eco-profile methodology was developed and applied.
Jassa marmorata was used as a sample-species to test the effectiveness of the eco-profile methodology at predicting the bottlenecks. The current- and future bottlenecks caused by the presence of Jassa marmorata were successfully determined, to the extent that it was possible to allocate 23 locations within the Arctic Ocean most susceptible to an invasion of Jassa marmorata. During the construction of the eco-profile it was found that the dataset on the species in the Arctic Ocean likely contained false information due to a sample contamination at the site of the investigation.
Testing the eco-profile methodology has indicated that it is not yet feasible to apply the method in its current state for the continuation of the SBC program. Some alterations have to be made to increase its efficiency and accuracy. Nevertheless it has proven to be a very useful method for assessing the quality of available literature on alien species in the Arctic Ocean, and at determining the current- and future bottlenecks of an alien species invasion.